- A Joliet man already serving 45 years in prison for the murder of an innocent bystander received an additional six years today for abiding by his gang’s code of silence and refusing to testify against an associate gang member.
Robert Meza, 23, was sentenced for “serious direct criminal contempt” by DuPage Judge Kathryn Creswell. Meza refused to testify in the recent trail of Antonio Aguilar, 21, of Addison, for the 2007 murder in Addison of Lorenzo Salazar-Cortez, 22, of Berkeley. - State law requires Meza to serve 100 percent of the 45-year murder sentence, but only 50 percent of any contempt sentence. Creswell said he should be released when he is 68 years old.
100% of the murder sentence? That's a first. And releasing him when he's 68? Too soon in our opinion, but you take what you can get in this state. As for the contempt charge, the reason the Outfit started to crumble and fade into the background years ago was the massive sentences handed out for RICO stuff and the unwillingness of younger guys to take the full weight of prison for decades at a time, so they made deals, wore wires and talked - something that hadn't been done before. We would hope this is applicable to the younger gangs.